


Meet Me in the Middle (TEMPORARILY DISCONTINUED)

by spIDERFOASJDFAWKEJ



Category: Celebrities - Fandom, youtuber
Genre: Abuse, Anxiety, F/M, Fluff (what little there can be), Gen, Graphic Description, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I don't really know how to use tags, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Kidnapping, Kissing, Lots of Angst, M/M, Multi, Panic Attacks, Romance, Self-Harm, So much angst, Violence, possibly some boys in love, sorry - Freeform, the angst is in the later chapters, yes its too late for me to be writing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:35:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 6,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23946292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spIDERFOASJDFAWKEJ/pseuds/spIDERFOASJDFAWKEJ
Summary: Ten people receive letters. Only one is supposed to walk away.Or the fic where ten people are kidnapped during quarantine and pitted against each other, like in the Unus Annus Hunger Games video. I'm bad at summaries, just read it.ALSO: If you are ANY of the people in this fic, please DO NOT read this. This isn't meant for you to read.
Relationships: Implied/Established relationships, Lots of background relationships - Relationship, Mark Fischbach & Ethan Nestor, Mark Fischbach & Felix Kjellberg, Mark Fischbach & Sean McLoughlin, Safiya Nygaard/Tyler Williams (background)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 38





	1. The First Two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Panic attacks

Mark received the letter in the mail. It was stupid, honestly. Who writes letters anymore? Just send a text. Letters seemed too posh and snobby to him. He didn’t like how the envelope said _'Mark Edward Fischbach'_ in the most elegant font he’d ever seen. He didn’t like how the envelope was such good quality. It was a _letter._ Something no one uses. Why make it elegant? Sighing, Mark brought the letter inside and set it on the table, deciding that later he would choose to either open it or throw it away.

What Mark didn’t know is that he wasn’t the only person who received a fancy, too-expensive-looking letter that day. Nine other people did. Every single person who got one was both confused and worried for their safety. None of the letters had return addresses, nor did they have a stamp. Someone had _personally_ come to each of their houses and put the letter in their mailbox. Six letters had the same, creamy, texture, and fancy script. Four letters looked just like normal letters. Nine different names. No duplicates. Everything about the six fancy letters was the same, except for the contents. Everything about the four normal-looking letters was the same, except for the contents. Some letters only had one sheet of paper, some had two. Some had instructions, some had pictures. Every letter had a location and time written on a paper that was inside of it, but every person who received a fancy letter had a different location and time. No duplicates. As nine other people set the letters down to deal with later, ten plans were set into motion. Each with the same, common goal: _Get all ten people to the same place at the same time._

~~Time rewind and location change!!~~

Ethan Mark Nestor-Darling stared at the letter before him, hands shaking. He wanted to open it, but he was scared, which he thought was stupid. _You shouldn’t be scared of a letter, Ethan. No one is scared of letters. Open it. Stop being paranoid._ Hesitating, he picked up the letter opener (something he only had because he thought they looked cool) that was sitting next to him on the counter. He began to gently slice the envelope open but stopped quickly. He felt so anxious. Why did he feel so anxious? Why did he feel like he was being watched? Was there someone in his house? Ethan’s breathing quickened, and right as he started to head into a full-blown panic attack, his phone blared. Jumping higher than he thought possible, Ethan yelped and nearly knocked it off the table. After calming himself down, he looked at the caller ID: _Fire._ Confusion etched Ethan’s face. Mark was calling him? Normally he texted or DMed him on Discord. _Chill out, Ethan. Quarantine is getting to your head. Just pick up the phone, nothing is wrong. Everything is fine. You’re okay. Nothing is wrong. Pick up the phone, Ethan. Pick up the phone. Pick. Up. The. Phone._

Eventually, the phone stopped ringing. Cursing quietly, he debated calling Mark back. Before he could, the phone rang again. Ethan became more concerned, this time picking up on the third ring. “Ethan? Did you get a letter today? No return address, no stamp, just your name in fancy script and some paper inside?” Mark started talking almost immediately, barely stopping to breathe. “Yeah, Mark. Did you get one? I’m kinda freaking out. We don’t know anyone who would drop off a letter at our house instead of facing us in person.” Ethan’s tone was rushed, anxious. His panic began growing further when he heard another beep on the line. “Shit, Felix is calling me. Wanna bet he got one too?” Mark sounded stressed. Ethan’s mind started to spiral when he checked his phone to see who was trying to reach him. “Ethan…?” Mark questioned softly. “So, I know Felix is calling you, but currently Seán’s calling me. I hope he didn’t get one too because then that means that _multiple people_ a), know where we live, b), dropped off a letter sometime today without anyone noticing, c), managed to time it so that we all got them on the same day, so this might be an organized operation, and d), have probably sent other people we know a letter as well, maybe with intent to hurt them.” Mark remained quiet, watching the line blink. “Yeah. Yeah, I know. Don’t be scared, we’ll be okay. Look, take Seán’s call and I’ll take Felix’s. Text me when you guys stop talking and I’ll set up a group call. We have to be able to figure this out,” Mark said, trying to stay calm (for Ethan’s sake). “Okay,” Ethan said, shakily. Talk to you in five-ish minutes?” “Sounds good,” Mark said, smiling despite the situation. Ethan sounded better now and Mark hoped he’d be okay. “I’m going to go now okay? I’ll talk to you in five. You’ll be okay. We’ll get through this,” Mark said, softening his voice and hanging up the line. “Oka-” Ethan heard the dial tone before he finished. Tears threatened to fall from his eyes, but he didn’t let them, instead deciding to press the button to take Seán’s call, hoping that everything was okay over in Europe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this! It's my first ever fic, so please be patient with me while I figure out how this works. With that being said, I will take any criticism that y'all have for me! And if you liked this, be on the lookout for a one-shot book that I'll be doing that will be made from requests. That should be up later today, and the information about what you can ask for/what I'll write is in there (I took some inspiration from another creator to do this, I would credit them but I forgot who they were). I also got the idea for this fic from movies like _Would You Rather_ and _Truth or Dare_. Stay safe and healthy, and I'll see you in the next chapter!


	2. The Second Two.

Seán glanced across the table to where Felix was sitting. Both were staring down at their letters in a state of confusion and panic. Neither had wanted to open them, but Mark and Ethan had decided they all should, just in case there was information about who sent the letters inside. Upon opening his letter, Seán was greeted by two sheets of paper, a place, and a time. Felix got one sheet of paper, along with a place and time. Since they were quarantined together (long story short, Felix hadn’t left in time and got stuck in the UK), they had been trying to find things to do. Since they both received letters at Seán's house, someone knew Felix wasn't in Sweden. Someone was following them. Felix's letter was... weird. It said he had to go to the small store that was at the end of their street at 12:35 tomorrow and wait there until 1:00. After that, he was to order a small vanilla milkshake, drink it, and wait until 1:30. If he failed to do so, he would face the consequences. He wasn't told what the consequences were, nor was he told why he was waiting.

Seán's letter was different. Yes, he still had an address and a time, but he had more instructions than Felix and therefore more tasks/consequences. His letter told him to exit his house, walk 20 paces south, then make a 90-degree turn and walk a hundred paces north. He then had to start a fire, and stay with the fire until dark. After doing so, he was free to attempt to leave. Keyword: _attempt_.

After reading their letters to Mark and Ethan, who were both on the other end of the phone (Ethan decided it was safer to stay at Mark's house, despite the quarantine the was currently underway.), they started to theorize about who would've done this. Seán thought it was a crazed fan, Felix thought it was a hitman, Mark thought it was an ex-partner one of the four had, and Ethan didn't know what to think.

"I'm telling you, I think it's just a fan that's trying to mess with us," Seán said calmly. "A 'fan' that would go to such lengths? Did two different 'fans' get together and write these letters? How do we know we're the only ones that got them? What if someone is trying to hurt us, Seán? Shouldn't we call the police?" Mark asked. He, Ethan, and Felix continued to ask questions, debating whether calling the police was the right option.

"Enough. Why don't we just call them and ask about the letter? Maybe they've heard of something like this bef-" Mark was cut off by an excited Ethan, who proceeded to yell (right into the phone microphone, ouch) "That's it! Let's see if something like this has happened! Mark, check the public records for California in the LA area. Seán, Felix, try to find the public records for Brighton. If you can't get ahold of them, try looking online. I'll search the police arrests in the past decade or so. We can call back in about 30 minutes to share what we've found, okay? Don't leave your house, and make sure your doors and windows are locked. Bye!" Ethan disconnected so fast, no one had time to ask any questions.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Felix said blankly. "Let's go find those records Seán. You too, Mark. Good luck!" With that, he swiftly hung up the phone and turned to Seán. "We're going to figure this out, right?" He asked, sounding scared. "Yeah, Felix. We will," was the only thing Seán had the energy to say. They left to go look for the records, leaving the letters open and on the table.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked this chapter! It's a little short, but I don't want to drag anything out too long or readers will lose interest. I'll be writing about different people next, so be prepared to find out who the other six people are!


	3. The Final Two.

Safiya hummed as she grabbed the mail from the box. Sifting through it, she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. “Bills, ads, a letter with my name and no return address on it, something Tyler ordered a while ago, wait-” Safiya stopped reading out what the items were and shuffled back to the one with her name on it. Walking inside and closing the front door, Saf called out for Tyler.

“Hey, Ty? Can you c'mere and look at this?"

"Sure, yeah, just a sec, editing this video," Tyler responded.

Sitting down at the table and double-checking the mail to make sure nothing else was out of the ordinary, she saw another letter (this one with Tyler's name on it), with no address and no return address. "Weird..." She muttered, reaching for it.

"What's weird?" Tyler asked, seeming to appear beside her.

"Ah! Don't  _ do _ that Ty, you're going to give me a heart attack!" Safiya exclaimed, jumping a bit. "Look at these letters I found in the mail. Our names, with no address or return address. Who do you think they're from?" she questioned. Tyler took the one addressed to him and turned it over in his hands, examining it. "This looks fancy... we should open them. What if it's important? Maybe you've been invited to the Oscars," he joked, starting to tear his letter open. "No, wait! What if they're dangerous?" Safiya asked, not normally the cautious one in these scenarios. Tyler gave her a confused look before going back to carefully opening his letter. Safiya hesitated, then opened the letter.  _ What's the worst that could happen? _ she thought, immediately thinking of everything that could go wrong when she opened the letter. Not being as careful as Tyler, she ripped the letter open and upended the contents onto the table. Out fell a picture and a sheet of paper. Tyler (who was still carefully opening the letter), stared at the picture.

"Isn't that us on our wedding day? I thought we were the only ones with the photos that the professional took," Tyler said, staring at the photo. It was a beautiful photo, with Safiya in her black dress and Tyler in his crisp white jacket. They had been in the middle of their first dance, and both had smiling expressions on their faces. 

"I'm- I'm not sure. Let me read the paper, maybe there's something on it. Maybe a fan screenshotted this from a video and printed it out," she responded, her voice shaking slightly. The paper had instructions on it ( _ of course _ ) that told her where to go and when. Reading the list, she just got more confused. "Go to the Starbucks nearest us? Order the most basic drink on the menu? Who wrote this? And why do they have our wedding photos?" Safiya's questions came out faster and faster as she got more agitated.

Tyler, who's letter was now opened and emptied, had a similar look. A different photo had fallen out, this one of him watching Safiya walk down the aisle. More instructions, this time two pages, telling him to go to where they had the wedding and head to where they had the photo taken. He had the warning sheet, too:

**_ Failure to comply with instructions will result in consequences or possible termination. Thank you for your cooperation with ~~The Enigma Corp.~~ RDBSC. _ **

"RDBSC? What does that mean?" Tyler asked, puzzled. 

"I'm not sure. This makes no sense. Who dropped these off? How do they know where we live? Why is "The Enigma Corp." crossed out? Why us? What does RDBSC stand for? Who are these people? Why do these people have photos of us-" Safiya was cut off by Tyler, who looked at her and spoke calmly.

"Saf, it's late. Or really early.  _ Really _ early. We can think about this later okay? Right now I think we should go to bed. I'll make sure all the doors are locked, you make some tea. We can watch some crappy show on Netflix for a bit to calm down, okay? Let's just go to bed and think about this in the morning."

Hearing Tyler's words, Safiya calmed down. "Okay," She responded slowly, gently setting down the items in her hand. Standing up slowly, she went to go make the tea, breathing slowly to calm down.  _ Everything will be okay, _ she thought.  _ It'll all be okay _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, here's the next chapter (also short, my apologies!)! This took me a while, sorry. Let me know if there's something else you want to see. I can't remember if I've been titling my chapters, so if this one has a title and the others don't, my bad. The next chapter will be different, (the remaining four people will be mysterious random names I pull out of a hat and add character too, because hey, not everyone's famous.) but hopefully still good. (Just in case you're curious, this is called 'The Final Two' because they're the last of the six famous people) As always, criticism is welcome and I hope I'm following the criticism you guys give me properly. If not, just be patient. Updates might get slower because I have online schoolwork to do and that's more important than this (sorry!!!). Thanks so much for all the support, I can't wait to keep writing for y'all!  
> (Oh, also: I didn't know if Safiya lived in an apartment or a house, so if it seemed a little off when I referred to where she's living that's why)


	4. The Four That Followed Directions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Very mild violence and kidnapping
> 
> I do not own Starbucks or any of its drinks nor the characters (I used a website to help create them, go check it out: https://www.name-generator.org.uk/). All of my work is purely fictional and not meant to harm Starbucks or the website I used in any way.
> 
> ALSO: I know it seems like there are some gaping plot holes. I edited the first chapter to match this one if you're confused (I won't blame you if you are, I forgot about some details before I wrote this) just go back and re-read the other chapters. If you spot any other plot holes, let me know and I'll gladly fix them!

Four people walked into the coffee shop. Unbeknownst to them, they were all there because of the same reason: a letter. Lining up six feet apart (because maintaining social distancing is _always_ a priority), they took their places in the queue and waited to order. There were two girls and two boys, and none of them knew each other. Jane Hubbard: a 17-year-old teenager who happens to be British. She lives near the uppity side of LA, closer to the posh stores and lavish lifestyle. Her letter promised her fame and fortune, beyond her wildest dreams, and she immediately followed all of the directions it provided. Scarlet Lambert: a friendly lady who lives a more humble lifestyle. As a 20-year-old woman in college, she works part-time as a receptionist right now, which is barely enough to make rent and pay for classes. When she received her letter, which promised her enough money to support her and her mother, she jumped at the chance. Adrian Gonzalez: a senior in high school who's best friend (Shelby) was poisoned at 14. The police never found the killer, and Adrian has dedicated his whole life to solving her case and getting his best friend the justice she deserves. His letter said the sender had vital clues and information which might help him crack this case once and for all. Byron Hensley: a 40-year-old man who works as a trainee doctor. Bryon enjoys donating blood and spending time with his wife, who is 20 years older than he is. Having grown up in a poor neighborhood, Bryon vowed to never live the life his parents did. Currently, both he and his wife are in debt. The letter he received promised to make all his money problems disappear. 

When the four walked into the coffee shop, they had no idea what was in store for them. Each person ordered a different drink, one that matched their personalities. For Jane: a venti pink drink, for Scarlet: a tall mocha latte with extra whip, for Adrian: one shot of espresso, and for Bryon: a grande vanilla bean cream frappuccino. After ordering, each went to a different part of the cafe to wait for their orders. Most looked around or played on their phones, but Adrian (who liked to be updated with current events) checked the news. Scrolling through CNN aimlessly, he stumbled upon an article talking about letters that famous YouTube stars had received recently. All of them held threats and empty promises. "If anyone knows anything about this, please come forward," the lady on the screen said. Showing pictures of the envelope and the letters with the names blocked out, the article says that there were no addresses on any of them, just the name of the star in gold script. _Huh. Weird._ Adrian thought, not at all worried. The letter he'd gotten didn't have his name in gold script, and it didn't hold any empty promises. Right? He hoped so. He was on the verge of a breakthrough in Shelby's case, and he wanted, no, _needed_ this information. If he got this, he could bring the killer to justice. Shelby deserved justice. Ignoring the news, he heard his name called and walked up to the counter to take it. Turning the small cup around, he saw a note scribbled hastily on it in marker: _go to the corner outside the shop and wait. I have the clues._ Shrugging, Adrian walked outside and sipped his espresso carefully **(A/N: I've never had espresso, so I'm not exactly sure how they serve it at Starbucks. Sorry if this is inaccurate!)** , as it was still scalding hot. Stopping at the corner, he waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he saw a man walk over to him. 

"Adrian, right?" he asked, voice gruff and cold.

"That's me," Adrian replied, almost hesitantly.

"Boss wanted me to apologize, he can't meet you here in person. He has the clues you're looking for, but he needs you to come with me," the gruff man said. After speaking, he turned his cold, lifeless eyes on Adrian. "You don't get a choice. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. What'll it be, Adrian?" He questioned, continuing to stare.

Adrian didn't move, didn't speak, hell, he didn't _breathe_. This man looked like he could do some damage to him, and he was probably lying. _He can't be lying. How would he have known about the clues then?_ the little voice in his head questioned. _I don't know. Most people know by now that I'm trying to find Shelby's killer;_ he thought back, trying to shut the voice up so he could think.

"Hey-o, kid," the man said, waving his hand in front of his face. "Easy way or the hard way? What'll it be?"

"Um..." Adrian trailed off. "You have the clues, right?"

"Yup. They're at the boss's lair."

"I'll uh..." Adrian's mouth went dry. He could tell the man was trying to be friendlier and keep him calm after seeing his hesitancy, tell he was trying to rope him into whatever he was going to do to him. What _was_ 'the hard way'? Did it involve weapons? Pain? Torture? He didn't want to get hurt, but every instinct he ever had was telling him to run, to scream, to do _something_ , which could end up with him getting hurt. Deciding only being slightly hurt was better than him ending up half-dead, he decided to take the easy way.

"The easy way," He responded, hesitantly.

A slight smile spread across Mr. McGruff's face. "Good," Mr. McGruff responded. "Just stay still," he said, tone of voice changing. His eyes looked full of malice now. Adrian hoped that maybe this was a prank, that maybe this man wasn't about to kill him. _Ma always told me about stranger danger;_ he thought quietly. _Ma, if you're watching, I'll listen next time, I promise. Please don't let this strange man kill me; this isn't how I want to die. Please._

Adrian waited with his eyes shut, too scared to face the man. He felt his hands being bound behind him and something being stuffed in his mouth. All of a sudden there was a pain in his head, and before he could open his eyes, he fell to the ground. The only noise he made was the slight _whoosh_ of air from his lips before he passed out, unconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry if there's any weird spaces or something, Archive likes to act weird sometimes. I've been busy and unmotivated to write lately, I'm sorry. I hope this chapter is different enough. I wanted to do something different but I got this huge idea and ran with it. The three other new characters will have their fates shown in either the next three chapters or in the next chapter. I didn't want to drag this out or I would've written some more, but I think the next chapter should be out soon (I hope, I'm bad with schedules). Let me know what you think! I won't stop writing this story, I love writing it for y'all. However, updates may come out slower while I wait for new ideas to hit me. Tell me what you liked and what you'd like to see changed! I won't be changing any of the character backgrounds or their names, but if you have a suggestion that you think will make the story better (suggestions for how the characters act, maybe a torture plan because yes, there will be some of that soon :3), feel free to let me know!


	5. The Two That Didn't Follow Directions- Pt. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: None, but there's some slight Crankiplier. If you really hate that ship, just take this as a platonic friendship thing. Pt. 2 is on the way!

Mark and Ethan were staring at the letters again. Neither knew what to do. "Should we make a video about it? Say we're taking a break from YouTube for a bit?" 

Ethan worried his bottom lip for a bit, not answering. When he did, he sounded sad. "Maybe we should, Mark. I don't want to put on a mask right now. We need to discuss this and figure out what to do, and decide if we should listen to the letters."

Ethan looked down. Mark's thoughts were going a mile a minute, and he couldn't slow them down. He didn't want to think about it. 

"Yeah, let's do that. Post one on each of our channels and then do something about Unus Annus. Do you think we have them stockpiled long enough? Would they understand if we paused the timer?"

Ethan thought about it. He hadn't considered Unus Annus. "Let's used what we've stockpiled first. We can film a video saying that we want to pause the timer and explain our reasoning for it, then pause the timer. The fans should understand," Ethan responded. "Okay, sounds good," Mark said slowly. What was the harm in pausing the timer for a bit? Besides, it was only until this blows over. Nothing was going to happen, Mark just wanted him and Ethan to be safe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mark stood in his recording room, with Ethan waiting slightly off to the side. They had decided to just film them on the same camera, to save time.

"Hello everybody, my name is Markiplier, and today I have something important to talk to you about. The letters that you've seen on the news? I received one of them. Because of this, and the fear for my safety, I've decided to take a break from YouTube while the police figure this out. I hope you all understand, and I hope to be back soon. Buh-bye!"

Mark turned off the camera, then let Ethan film. After that, they posted a new Unus Annus video and set up to record the new one where they explain their plan to pause the timer.

"Alright... action!" Ethan said, starting the camera and stepping back.

"Hello, guys. By now you've probably seen the videos Ethan and I posted about the letters. While we have Unus Annus videos stockpiled, when we run out of those, we will pause the timer. This means that after we film this video, we will be shutting the timer off until this is resolved because we won't be filming any more for a while. Thank you for understanding," Mark said, looking to Ethan. 

"Unus," he said.

"Annus," Mark finished, walking forward and shutting off the camera.

"What now?" Ethan asked. 

"We wait for the comments to roll in," Mark answered.

And roll in they did.

_I don't believe it! They won't shut it down for an outbreak, but they will because of a letter?_

_We completely understand, Mark. Take your time._

_Ethan, we're on your side. Please stay safe._

_Shutting the timer off? Are you pranking us???_

_It's just a letter, guys. This is no reason to shut the timer off!_

Most of the feedback was positive, but a good handful of the comments were negative.

"Mark, I don't think they like us shutting the timer off. They're completely fine with the other videos, though."

Mark shrugged. "They'll just have to deal with it. Now, what do we do about the letters?"

Ethan thought about it, then answered. "I don't think we should do what it says. I'm not willing to risk my safety -or the safety of others for that matter- just because some letter tells us to. What if it's just an elaborate prank? Maybe a group of people got together and found our address somehow, you never know. It's not worth freaking out about, in my opinion."

Mark agreed. Going against what some stupid letter said wasn't worth risking their safety or the lives of others.

"Yeah, sounds good. Wanna watch a movie?"

Ethan nodded and smiled. "Can I pick it, though? You always choose horror."

Mark laughed. "Nope! We're watching _The Conjuring_ tonight, and you're going to love it."

Ethan groaned, then followed Mark into the living room. Secretly, though, Ethan would never turn down Scary Movie Night With Mark (SMNWM). Who cares if he didn't sleep that night? Getting to watch a movie with Mark was _always_ worth it. Plus, Mark got scared sometimes and then let Ethan cuddle with him, which was a bonus.

Mark turned on the movie, and Ethan got ready to be scared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been a while since I've updated, huh? I can't believe I have almost 300 hits on this. If you liked it, remember to leave kudos! Knowing people want more of this makes me want to write for this story more often. Also, if you're into Harry Potter/Percy Jackson crossovers, go check out the new piece I'm writing here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24567484  
> As always, criticism is always welcome. Drop a comment to let me know how I'm doing, or let me know how you're doing, I'm always happy to read/respond to comments. Happy reading :))


	6. The Two That Didn't Follow Directions- Pt. 2

The movie had ended an hour ago. Ethan, however, was still awake. It was around 2:30 am, and he was scared shitless. That movie had been one of the creepiest things he'd ever seen. Something fell downstairs, making him jump. "M- Mark...?" he stammered, terrified. Another crash. Ethan got out of bed and made a run for it, not knowing where he was going. His mind was on overload, everything telling him to _run_.

Pretty soon he stopped, and Ethan realized he was standing in Mark's room, who was sitting up and looking at Ethan.

"Ethan...? Why are you in here?"

"I, um, heard something and came in here, super sorry, gonna leave now-"

Another crash. Mark jumped as well. "Don't leave, bad idea. Get the knife from by the bed," Mark instructed, staying calm.

Ethan went over to Mark's bed and shakily took the knife, which Mark had dubbed the name 'Bed Knife' **(A/N: Yes, this is a real knife that Mark has by his bed and I find it hilarious that he named it. I think they talk about it in an Unus Annus video, but I don't remember which one)** , and brought it over to Mark. He took it and started to walk towards the door. Ethan was about to tell him that _no, you shouldn't walk towards a noise Mark, have you ever_ seen _a horror movie_ , when the door was kicked in and three masked men walked into the room.

"You disobeyed our orders. We gave you two days. You did not come to where we told you to. You did not do what we asked. You will come with us now, and face the consequences."

Ethan scrambled back, and Mark faltered. 

"Mark, what are they talking about?" Ethan asked, terrified.

"You did not do what we asked in the letters. We told you there would be consequences. We warned you."

The masked men began advancing on Mark, who swung the knife and tried to stab them. It made contact a couple of times but slipped right off of their clothing. _Leather_ , Ethan thought. Mark's blade wouldn't be able to dig into their clothing properly. They were going to die. Hearing a _thud_ , Ethan looked up to see Mark hitting the ground before him. "No!" he cried, scared for his friend's life. The men turned to him, walking slowly towards him. They advanced quickly, managing to get their hands on Ethan before he could react. "Knock him out, bind the two, and out them in the car with the rest of the lot. Boss will be pleased to see them." Gruffy Voice Number One.

"Who is-" Ethan was cut off by a well-thrown punch to his jaw. He was falling towards the ground before he could steady himself, the world going black before he hit the ground.


	7. The Wake-Up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Maybe some depressive thoughts and anxiety, not exactly sure.

Ethan woke up in a room, surrounded by harsh white lights. His head hurt. His entire face hurt. 

_Where's Mark? Where am I?_

Looking around, he could vaguely see the outlines of other people. He wasn't sure how many there were, or if any were behind him. Suddenly, the lights shut off.

"Hello?" he croaked out. 

_Ew. I sound like shit._

No one responded. He could barely see. A person moved. _They must not be tied up like I an_ , he thought. Wait a minute. _Was_ he tied up? He tried to move his arms. They weren't working. Legs? Nope. Maybe he was? He couldn't tell.

_What did they drug me with?_

The person came closer. Ethan was starting to get a bad feeling about this.

"Hello. You'll fetch a pretty penny for boss if you win, won't you?"

They were a woman, or Ethan thought that they were. She had an accent, but Ethan couldn't place it. A blade ran down his face. Ethan tried not to jerk away.

"Yes, you will. Win for me, okay? If you win, we let the girl go."

_What girl? Win what? Where's Mark?_

_"_ All in due time, my pet. The lights will come back on soon. Don't fail."

She left, and the lights came back. Ethan tried again in vain to move. Someone else came up to him, wearing a mask.

_Ha. They must practice social distancing here._

The masked person put a gag in his mouth and a blindfold over his eyes. The last thing Ethan remembered was the feeling of a rope being wrapped around his legs.

 _Guess they weren't bound together, after all_ , he thought, before blacking out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sean was sitting in his bedroom, watching some YouTube videos when the men came. They knocked on the door, then pounded. Felix was just as confused as he was. They said that he and Felix hadn't listened. They hadn't done what the letters said. They were going to 'face the consequences' (whatever that meant). Now, here he was, tied to Felix in a pitch-black room.

_Where am I?_

He tried to talk, to move, but no sound came out and his limbs didn't work.

_We're screwed. Felix, I'm so, so, sorry._

They should've done what the letters said. Why did they wait to figure this out? Why did they try to solve this? It was stupid. _Sean_ was stupid. This was all his fault, and now he and Felix were both going to pay the price.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Safia was listening to Tyler's ideas about editing their new video when they showed up. They had put the letters to the backs of their minds for a bit, not wanting to worry about it. They'd put out a video like normal, just trying to relax and enjoy their married life. The men came, they took Tyler and they shot her with something. She woke up alone, on a lab table. Everything hurt.

 _What did they_ do _to me? Where's my husband?_

The surgeon came in, stared down at her.

"She'll do just fine, thank you. Dismissed."

He picked up the biggest needle Saf had ever seen, looking at her with no remorse.

"This won't hurt a bit."

He stabbed her.

It hurt.

A lot.

The world spun, then went black. 

Safia was alone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adrian woke up in the same room as four other people. Lights on, tied up, able to talk. They stared at each other, not knowing what to say.

"Did you get a letter?" he asked, barely able to form words. His head hurt like hell.

_What happened?_

Everyone nodded.

"They promised me money," one said.

"Fame and fortune," said another.

"Told me they'd get rid of my money problems," said the third.

"They promised me clues and information on my best friend's murder case," Adrian told the rest.

They continued staring, not knowing what to do.

"Guess it was a trap, huh?" said a lady, looking around at the others.

Laughter from everyone. No humor in it. They were going to die here. No one was coming to save them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mark woke up in an arena. 

_What the fuck? Where's Ethan? Where am I?_

No one was near him, and he couldn't move. The arena was empty, no furniture or anything. Just bare, black walls, and bare, black floor. It kinda smelled like blood, Mark realized. Not too far away, Mark heard screaming. 

_What in God's name is this?_

Mark wasn't able to talk, or he'd yell for help. The lights went out. Mark cried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm updatinggggg I'm so proud of myself! If you happen to like my writing and you have a request, just comment or PM me (email's located in my profile). I liked writing this chapter, and the suspense will be gone soon, I promise.


	8. The Movement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Depressive thoughts, maybe some anxious episodes

Safia woke up alone. No surgeon, no husband. Carefully, she attempted to sit up. Pain flared through every inch of her body, and she yelped.

"I wouldn't move if I were you. The surgery will take a couple more hours before it's healed completely."

Safia couldn't move her head to see where the voice was coming from, and talking hurt her mouth.

"You'll be placed in the competition soon. I'm betting on you to win, so don't fail me. If you win, I get to keep the girl."

_What girl? What competition?_

"You should get some rest now, the incisions will feel better in a few hours."

Safia, too tired to defy this mystery person, closed her eyes, and fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The lights were still off, but Mark had heard someone enter the room. He'd stopped crying long ago, but he was still scared.

"Sit."

Someone was forced to sit down beside him, yelping in pain.

_Ethan?_

"Don't move."

The person left, and the lights came back on.

Whatever drug that paralyzed Mark had worn off a while ago, but he didn't want them to know that. Turning slightly, he looked at who was next to him and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ethan... I was so worried."

Ethan looked scared, and like he'd been crying. Mark didn't blame him.

"Mark."

That was all Ethan managed to say before he burst into tears. Mark's eyes widened. He'd seen Ethan cry before, but he'd never seen Ethan break down like this. It hurt his heart.

"Oh Ethan, come here," Mark said, pulling Ethan close to him and rubbing circles on his back.

"I'm sorry," Ethan choked out. Mark shook his head. "You don't need to be sorry Ethan, you did nothing wrong. It's going to be okay, we're going to be okay."

Ethan just cried harder, curling closer into Mark's chest and not saying anything. They stayed like that for a while, even after Ethan stopped crying. 

"Mark?" Ethan asked, not moving.

"Yeah?" Mark answered, looking down.

"I'm kind of thirsty. Do you know if they're going to like... feed us?"

Mark rested his chin on Ethan's head, thinking.

"I don't know, Ethan. I don't know."

A few minutes later, Ethan's breathing evened out and he moved a little closer to Mark. Mark sighed, deciding sleeping was probably the only thing they could do right now. Closing his eyes, he curled his arm more protectively around Ethan before falling asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The four were moved from the room they were in and separated. Adrian was brought into a smaller room that was padded on all sides. A small bed, a table, and a chair. He didn't know where the others went, but as long as he could get some food soon he'd be happy. After being pushed into the room, he heard the door click. Sitting, he waited. He wasn't sure _what_ he was waiting for, per se, but he felt like he should. Also, there wasn't anything else for him to do. Eventually, the door opened. A man stepped in, dressed in a nice suit and tie.

_Too nice for here._

The man looked around, unimpressed. "I'm betting on you and you're being treated like _this?_ Unacceptable. I'll talk to someone about moving you. You better win."

Then he left, leaving Adrian to wonder. 

_I was taken here by a burly man. They knocked me out and brought me to that room. Now I'm here, and some strange man told me he was betting on me. What is this, the Hunger Games? It's illegal on all levels. Who were those people that they brought in? Why us? Why here? And when can I get some damn food?!_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sean woke up sometime later, not realizing he'd fallen asleep. The lights were on now, and he was still tied to Felix. 

_Nothing changed._

Whatever drug they'd used on him had worn off, and he could talk again. Still, Sean didn't try to speak. He felt guilty, ashamed. He could've prevented this. Eventually, someone walked in and forced him and Felix to their feet. They took them to another room, which was similar to the one they were just in. He felt the ropes being unbound, and then heard the door click shut. The lock sounded soon after.

Felix was just starting to stir, so Sean went to go sit on the bed that was in the room. 

The _only_ bed. Sean decided to not focus on that and sat down anyways.

"Sean..?"

Felix's voice sounded awful. He looked awful. Sean didn't remember what happened very well, just that they were here and safe. Sort of. 

"What happened?" Felix croaked, wincing.

"I don't remember, Felix. There were men and then I woke up in a room tied to you. Now we're here, untied and awake."

Sean looked down so Felix couldn't see his face.

"Oh."

Felix walked over to the bed where Sean was with some difficulty, but he managed to get there and lay down. Sean didn't move. His head hurt. He didn't know if he would ever see his family or the light of day again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! How you like it


	9. Update

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry.

Hi. So for now, I'm ceasing all work on my works with chapters. Recently I've realized I don't have the motivation to currently keep writing for these. I wrote too much too fast and burned myself out. Since I don't want to be forcing out bad content, I want to take a break from my chaptered works and begin writing shorter fics to help my inspiration come back. I'm very sorry to all that were expecting new chapters from me, and I promise that someday I will continue these works. For now, I'm taking a hiatus. Thank you to all that supported me, I hope you'll stick with me while I do this.

Much love, 

El (The author)

A special thank-you to my friend who was reading my chapters when I posted them and critiquing them, she helped make this work better and motivated me beyond belief. When I return to these fics, I hope that she'll be by my side, continuing to edit the chapters for continuity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will come back. I know how much people love this work and I want to see it finished just as much as you do. If you want to see some more of my writing currently, check out my one-shots booklet that I'm working on. If you like the work there, drop a kudos, a comment, bad maybe even a request! Thank you all once again for the support that I've received while writing this, and I hope to have my creativity for this back soon!


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